Within the space of a decade Elon went from being an immigrant to the United States, sleeping in his office and showering at the YMCA, to being a dot com multi-millionaire taking delivery of a million dollar McLaren Supercar.
Elon used what he had, did what he could, and it worked for him.
“At the beginning we had one computer which would be the web server during the day and then at night I’d program on it. And we’d sleep in the office.
It was cheaper to rent the office than to rent an apartment so we just rented the office and slept in the office and showered at the YMCA.”
Elon was born in South Africa but it didn’t stop him from moving to Canada, and then to America and Silicon Valley to be a part of the dot com boom.
Maybe you are starting out from a humble beginning. When I started my first online website I started it from my bedroom while in University and living at home with my parents…
Yet despite my humble beginning I grew my blog into a success to the tune of thousands of visitors a day.
If you have a laptop and an Internet connection a world of awesome potential awaits you.
Dream big, work hard and act boldly, because these days more than ever: When there is a will there often is a way.
Why would Elon Musk choose to sleep on the factory floor you might ask?
Because while he was asking Tesla employees to work around the clock to achieve company goals he was right there with them.
Elon leads by example.
Leading by example is a powerful way to lead.
When Elon needs to stay at a factory to get something done he stays and will get the work done.
On a Clubhouse app audio recording Elon shared how he slept on the factory floor, with the smell of iron filings in the air, because he wanted Tesla employees to see him there giving it his all for Tesla and the team…
Those who have seen Elon sleeping on a factory floor have witnessed Elon’s level of work ethos.
Seeing is believing.
But if you see something online you should be more careful with thinking what you see happened in real life. Image in this post is made by Elon’s Ai company Grok.
From Elon’s USC Commencement speech he described the importance of hiring smart and said:
“If you are forming a company the most important thing is to attract great people.
All a company is, is a group of people that are gathered together to create a product or service.
So depending on how talented and hard working that group is and the degree to which they are focused cohesively in a good direction that will determine the success of the company.
So do everything you can to gather great people if you’re creating a company.“
How can you tell if someone is great?
There are many different ways talent and greatness are expressed and the types of talent you may need will vary.
One trait Elon looks for when hiring new people is to look for problem solvers and evidence of exceptional ability.
When Elon interviews someone he asks about the problems the interviewee worked on:
“And how they solved them…if someone was really the person that solved it they’ll be able to answer multiple levels.
They’ll be able to go down to the brass tacks and if they were not they’ll get stuck.
And then you can say oh this person was not really the person who solved it because anyone who struggled hard with a problem never forgets it.“
Problem solvers are great people and the people who solve the greatest problems are definitely deserving of their greatness.
From Oranges to Starships: A Strategy From Elon’s Startup
When Elon was first starting out in business in the USA, he lived on $1 per day to alleviate some of the financial worry that comes with having a new business that is in the pre-profitability stage.
He ate a lot of oranges and hot dogs during those days, he claims.
“I figured if I could live off a dollar a day then, at least from a food stand point, it’s pretty easy to earn $30 a month.”
Elon didn’t do it because he was poor. He did it to see if he had what it takes to lead life as an entrepreneur.
Since he was successful with this experiment he knew that money wouldn’t be an issue if he could keep his budget tight.
By experimenting with what it actually felt to be poor Elon realized he could do it if he had to.
And this helped give him extra confidence so he could go all in and win.
Note about the pic: Elon and Kanye are friends. Ye posted “When you go to your boys house and you’re both wearing orange.“
Fun Fact: Elon owned etymology.com also features the Orange emoji.
Alleviate Stress and Focus on Success
By not having to worry about the cost of food Elon was able to pour more energy into his business without the burden of stress.
In an interview with Engineering dot com Elon said:
“It’s relatively easy to start a company, you just need to get a few like minded people with you and then focus on creating a prototype,a compelling prototype, as soon as possible…
And then there’s a strong venture capital industry in this country that will give you funding to take things to the next level and that’s all there is to it…
You may or may not succeed but sometimes I think people fear starting a company too much. You have to say really what’s the worst that could go wrong?
You’re not going to starve to death, you’re not going to die of exposure, what’s the worst that could go wrong?“
Business is not usually anywhere as risky as jumping out of a plane.
Having a budget and tracking your inflow and outflow of capital will help you eliminate potential financial stressors and gain greater clarity around the important tasks you need to complete for your business to succeed.
By evaluating the worst that could go wrong you can plan for the worst and find motivation to do the hard work needed to help ensure your outcome is positive.
Seek the Truth: Elon Musk’s Tips for Handling Constructive Criticism
One success tip that many people likely avoid but contains plenty of power is: Seeking out constructive criticism.
Noone likes hearing what they are potentially doing wrong but by seeking out this information from people you trust you gain valuable insight that you may be able to use to make improvements.
“I think it’s important for people to pay close attention to negative feedback and rather than ignore negative feedback, you have to listen to it carefully.
Ignore it if the underlying reason for the negative feedback doesn’t make sense but otherwise, people should adjust their behavior.
I’m not perfect at it, for sure, but I do think it’s really important to solicit negative feedback, particularly from people who have your best interest in mind.“
Truth can be harsh but truth is often powerful. By seeking the harshest and hardest truths and learning from them you will ultimately become stronger.
In a Milken Institute interview with his brother Kimbal, Elon was asked: “What are the key traits, skills, and circumstances that have enabled you to be so successful?”
Elon Replied: Being tenacious, and being super focused on the truth is extremely important and looking for feedback from all sources.
The more positive feedback you can generate the better your product will be.
Be willing to hear the hard truth…
Then be willing to take the hard actions needed to fix your problems fast.
And realize the feedback loop is a two way street:
“Having that strong bidirectional feedback loop between engineering and production is really helpful for making the car better, finding efficiencies and lowering the cost.”
An example of this is the machine learning system Tesla has been installing into all vehicles since October 2016. From that point on new vehicles come with the necessary sensors and computing hardware, known as hardware version 2 (HW2), which provide feedback for future Full Self-Driving. This automated feedback data gives Tesla a distinct advantage over competitors.
Barriers to feedback are barriers to innovation.
The better your system for turning feedback into innovation is the better off you and your business will be.
Ignore The Competition
When speaking at the InvestHK conference Elon said:
“We don’t think too much about what competitors are doing because I think it’s important to be just focused on making the best possible products…
It’s sort of analogous to what they say about you if you’re in a canoe if you’re in a race. They say don’t worry about what the other runners are doing, just run.“
Elon does not suggest ignoring competition altogether. Competition can inspire innovation but obsessing over the competition distracts from obsessing over your own business.
So be aware of your competition but don’t let it distract you from your main goal: Making your business and your life as awesome as possible.
The grass will be greener on your side when you focus more energy on making your grass green and less time worrying about your neighbors grass.
Unlock Your Potential: Stop Limiting Yourself and Start Learning
Don’t let what you don’t know stop you from tackling important endeavors and don’t be afraid to develop new skills.
Elon never owned a car company before, but that didn’t stop him from joining the very early Tesla team and becoming a driving force.
Elon was never a rocket scientist, but that didn’t stop him from starting SpaceX.
There are plenty of books out there and there is more information readily available than ever before so set your sights high because there is a world of information available online and the potential to turn your wildest dreams into reality has never been greater.
Never limit yourself.
Propel yourself to greatness and don’t let self-doubt stop you from realizing your most powerful potential.
Elon interviewed the first ~3,000 people who work for SpaceX personally.
He says a mistake he has made in the past is hiring people for their brain and not taking their heart into consideration.
A practical way to apply this strategy to your business is to think bigger with your hiring.
If you can hire a location independent position, meaning your employee could work from anywhere, then you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t source talent outside of your local area.
Cast a wider net when you hire and you will give yourself a better chance of connecting with someone great.
Look for evidence of exceptional ability and you will give yourself a better chance of working with exceptional people.
Elon says to ask detailed questions about challenging problems the interviewee had to overcome. If they were involved in the problem solving they will be able to describe the nuance needed to prevail above the problem. This is how you can identify problem solvers and get them on your team.
Elon is real and more often wears custom t-shirts than he wears a suit. At the Axel Springer round table with a dozen other CEO’s, where Elon won the Axel Springer award, he was the only CEO not wearing a suit or tie.
Elon’s relatability and openness is part of the reason why many millions (if not billions) of people know his name. Certainly his strategies are working well.
Remarkability is a strong strategy so stay different and don’t be afraid to break the mould and stand out.
With products like the Cybertruck and rockets to Mars in 2026 Elon is playing a huge roll in making the future look like the future moreso than ever before.
Elon took on the auto industry and the aerospace industry…and won!
So he knows what it takes to be the little guy and do what it takes to innovate, grow and win against some of the biggest companies in the world.
Make no mistake when you are the little guy with big competitors they will try and stamp you out.
And since the big competitors benefit from economies of scale you rarely can compete against them on price…
So to win you need to create a superior product.
As Elon puts it: “If you’re a new company entering an existing marketplace where there are large entrenched competitors then your product or service needs to be much better than theirs…
It can’t be a little bit better. Because then you put yourself in the shoes of the consumer and they say why would you buy it as a consumer. You’re always going to buy the trusted brand unless there is a big difference.
So a lot of times an entrepreneur will come up with something which is only slightly better. And it can’t just be slightly better, it’s got to be a lot better.”
With that attitude in mind they built the original Tesla roadster.
The same commitment to quality remains in the design of new products, like new Tesla Roadster.
Think about what kind of product you would love to have and put as much passion as possible into the product you create.
You have to love your product in order for other people to love it too.
On a call with investment bankers in 2018 Elon refused several bone headed comments and told day traders or investors afraid of volatility straight up not to buy Tesla stock because:
“I am not here to convince you to buy our stock…I could care less.”
What Elon does care about is innovation. He shared some powerful insights about innovation on the on the call:
“What matters is the pace of innovation. It is a fundamental determinant to competitiveness…
Let’s say competitors, maybe they come out with something new every six years. We’re maybe every two to three years.
So if our innovation is let’s say twice that of any given competitor…
And this is true generally of companies in any industry…
Whichever company has the highest rate of innovation, unless that company is actively killed by it’s competitors in some way that’s nefarious, or shoots itself in the foot, it will at some point exceed those competitors…
Like this is obvious that this would occur with Amazon and Wal-Mart because wal-mart’s rate of innovation was negligible. And Amazon’s was very high. The outcome was obvious a long time ago.”
In a more recent interview about the AxelSpringer Award (Which Elon ended up winning) Elon echoed similar sentiments saying:
“The company with the higher rate of innovation will unequivocally win long term.”
The lesson here is clear: Innovation matters most.
Moreover the more aggressively you innovate and iterate the faster you will dominate.
“Innovation per year is what matters. Not innovation absent time. Because if you want to make say 100% improvement in something and that took 100 years, or one year, that’s radically different…
So it’s like “what is your rate of innovation?” that matters and “is the rate of innovation accelerating or decelerating?”
At InvestHK Elon said: Innovation comes from questioning the way things have been done before…
And if in the education system you’re taught not to do that that will inhibit entrepreneurship.
Interviewer: “Being able to question what you were taught?”
Elon: “Being able to say: ‘Is there a better way?”
Elon has innovated with Tesla to the point where multiple sources who confirm Tesla has created some of the best cars ever.
That’s the game changing level of innovation you need to have a position in the marketplace where you are in a category of your own.
Here are some of Elon’s quotes on innovation:
“Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive, and determination of the people behind it as the product they sell.”
“Great companies are built on great products.”
“Failure is essentially irrelevant unless it is catastrophic.”
Although Elon does not strive for failure, he certainly does not hide from it either. And that is why he was able to push on and succeed with SpaceX after their first three rockets failed and he was down to his last dime.
Facing failure head on and learning from it is a lesson I learned the hard way. Once I got a speeding ticket and rather than setting the court date in my calendar I shoved the ticket in a folder and forgot about it. Since I missed the court date I got the maximum fine in my absence.
Had I faced that situation head on maybe I would have emerged successful. At least I would have gotten a lesser fine, or perhaps the cop would not have shown up for the court date and my ticket would have been dropped.
These days no matter how difficult the issue I might be facing I deal with it as soon as possible so it does not become ignored or forgotten about, causing the punishment of ignorance over time.
Action is the antidote to despair.
As Elon says:
“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
“If every time somebody came up with an idea it had to be successful you don’t get people coming up with examples.”
Failure is not to be feared. In fact just the opposite: It should be encouraged!
Because with more experiments, which will cause more failures, you will ultimately end up with more successes and a faster pace of innovation.
